"...FIRST is a friendly competition based on useing knowlege and enginering skills to overcome obsticals."
There's your problem. Don't explain it to people like that - tell them "sure
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We got a few people on the team this way(rookie team). Those few people grabbed their friends, and we now have around 11 or 12 people. They have attended meetings regularly even after the "revelation", so it should work out this year...